The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions.
It is common to place a young child into a child safety seat when transporting the child using a passenger vehicle. It is sometimes the case that a parent, guardian, caregiver, custodian, or attendant (collectively “responsible party”) to a young child inadvertently leaves the child unattended in the safety seat when exiting the vehicle.
For many consumer products that include portability and ease of use, one or more components may desirably be equipped with portable power (e.g., batteries and the like). A useful product that consumers would otherwise enjoy can easily become undesirable if power consumption is too great so that batteries would need to be replaced frequently. For a safety product, failure of the device of function because of batteries have insufficient stored energy is more than inconvenient as it risks a failure mode of failing to provide the expected protection. The more frequently that the batteries need to be replaced increases an associated risk of failure of the safety system.
Another concern associated with wireless communications products relates to operational range. There are many permutations of vehicle types, energy levels, antenna orientation and other factors that can significantly affect a wireless communications range that some solutions work in one context but may fail in other contexts. Further, in similar contexts, not all consumers will agree on an optimum operational parameters, such as triggering range, among other parameters.
What is needed is a system and method for alerting a responsible party when a child has been left unattended in a safety seat operable in a consumer-friendly manner.